an unlikely turn of events

Friday was my last day of work for 2007, and also the last Flyers TGIFF happy hour of 2007. Should have been a great night, but that is not exactly how things panned out.

Well it didn't start off so bad, actually. But for reasons that I really don't want to go into here, I had to make an early exit. I got back uptown but really didn't feel like going home...was too...i dunno. i felt like being by myself, but didn't want to go back to my place. so i decided i'd find a place where i could just sit at the bar and sip a drink and just calm my nerves. the first 2 places i thought of looked too crowded, but the 3rd had enough room for me to sit at the bar and sip a mojito.

I left after a drink, and as I was walking towards the corner, I made eye contact with a very cute guy and vice versa...he finished up his cell phone conversation and walked over...said i looked familiar and asked what my name was...and wouldn't you know it, we did meet randomly once before...once over the summer, when i was on the crosstown bus en route to Skylight's b-day shindig. I let this connection get away back then (since there was someone else in the picture), but let's just say I didn't make the same mistake twice...so we will see what happens! I mean...what are the chances of a missed connection being found again? :)

so i guess this crazy night had a decent ending :)

where do we go from here?

yeah, probably a line you've heard before...like in a song or something else...but in this case i think it's kinda sorta appropriate.

so it's the end of 2007 and running-wise...was kinda meh. of course, part of it at the beginning of the year was work-related, preventing me from getting in the miles that I would have liked and as a result got severely out of shape. i did manage to find my way back to halfway decent mileage, but it was quite a struggle, and i only had one race that i was really satisfied with this year (the SF half.)

as the title says, i'm really not sure where to go from here with regards to running goals. i do know these things i would like to happen next year...

• GET FASTER. this is the most important. i would like to just be able to complete one 6 mile loop of the park on a group run without getting dropped or begging people to slow down.
• sign up for the NYC marathon and run it-and hopefully better my 2006 time.
• maybe a 10-mile race in the late spring, as i have never raced this distance before? (i'm eyeing Broad Street, perhaps...)
• look outside NYRR and Central Park for races (5ks, 10ks, halfs)-and just use NYRR races to get in my 9 marathon qualifiers and use them as training runs if need be. (races like the Mini 10K and Club Champs are the exception, as I can get a decent starting position and they are less crowded.)
• PR in at least one distance. With the exception of distances I have only raced once, the majority of my PRs are 3 years old.

and once again, i have no clue how to go about any of it :-p

jewish singles=smallest community ever-part 2 of ...

ohhh yeah...i knew it'd happen again.

so i'm sure you can guess from the title that I did wind up attending The Ball on XMas Eve. I was there solo in the beginning, but then met up with my coworker and her BF and a couple other of their friends and had a good time. I still can't believe how many Jewish singles there are in the tri-state area...this event took place in 5 bars, and everywhere was just packed. ( I wound up going to 3 of the 5...The Park was pretty quiet in the beginning but at least it was easy to get a drink, Hiro (the lounge/club at the Maritime Hotel) was abolutely packed but was playing good music...The Cabanas (the rooftop bar at the Maritime) was packed but a little less so...then went back to The Park, where it had really picked up by that time.)

But enough of that. I'm sure you can tell there is a story brewing here, and that is what you really want to hear! :)

So as I know I have mentioned in the past, I can't go to these events without running into someone I know. And actually, later in the evening, I run into one of my ex-collegues from my last job...actually, I think last time I saw him was one of these events a coupla years back. But that's not the real interesting story... :)

Early in the evening, I catch the eye of a tall, good-looking guy. I walk over and we start talking. He tells me his name, and where he's from and I'm thinking "hmmm...I did know someone by that same name from that same place." When he mentioned where he went to school-same school as me-I put 2 and 2 together and knew that I knew him. When I asked if he was in a fraternity and he said what i thought he was gonna say...I let on that we did already know each other.

Basically-I was chatting with the Ex-Boyfriend's fraternity "big" brother!! OMG...talk about random encounters!!

But we actually had a nice conversation, catching up and stuff...he seemed to understand why I hadn't talked to the Ex in 7 years...that I did what I had to do to move on with my life. I then had to leave to go to one of the other bars, but got digits...and told him to tell the Ex that i said hi.

Please tell me that last action will result in some good karma for me.

first in line

today I went to JackRabbit to do a little bit of shopping...and found out they had just gotten the new Asics DS-Trainer 13's (so brand-spankin new that they aren't on Asics' website yet!) in that morning-and if I came back in a coupla hours I'd be able to try them on. Perfect, I had other shopping to do around Union Square. So I was back, probably first in line to try em on :)

I was really hoping these would feel OK, after absolutely loving the DS-Trainer 11's...the fit of the 12s didn't quite work for me. Last year I was still able to find 11's, but now I can't so it was time to upgrade. And thank god-these did feel good. The heel was able to accomodate my orthotics (the 12s couldn't-they were too narrow) and they felt OK on the treadmill-next will be to try em out on the road. Only strange thing was that I really had to size up in these-needed a 9 1/2 (to put in perspective-I take an 8 in the Cumulus 9's, and an 8 1/2 in the DS-Trainer 11's.)

And I can't seem to escape orange, right? As my 11's were orange too...but these look snazzy. Nice little "XMas" present to myself :)

And on the topic of XMas-merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate!!

(partially) off the fence

In my last post, I mentioned 2 holiday things I was sorta on the fence about participating in. I've gone ahead and signed up for one (the Midnight Run)-due to the fact that it ties into other plans that nite...

As for the other-still wavering. What I will wind up deciding, will be revealed in a coupla days or so :-p

In other news, I think it should be known that the Flyers' infamous Dr. Evil makes the strongest cosmopolitans that I have ever tasted. This ain't no chick drink anymore.

and what were you doing on december 15th?

Well according to this, you most likely were attending some type of holiday party whose invitation found its way to you via Evite. And I was one of those, in fact, that would have been the last one in my 3-party weekend...

Thursday nite-work party. (The day of was such a wasted day with regards to being productive-between a long meeting, holiday lunch, and secret santa gift exchange.) Newer, bigger venue this year, consensus was that this was an upgrade from the past coupla years. The mojito was the choice drink of the evening, coupled with a coupla rounds of kamikaze shots (which I felt the next morning...first I was thinking "no more mojitos" then I remembered "oh yeah...i did shots too, didn't i.") which left me just beautifully buzzed and quite happy on the dance floor-but believe me, I was one of the tamer people there!! (though bosslady just had to ask during the evening how many drinks I had...whatever...) yep, it would not be a holiday party without our financial guy dancing to "Baby Got Back"-and ripping his shirt off near the end of the evening. (sorry-no pictures for public consumption!) Thank god I had off the next day, I had a killer headache and was thinking "oh man...I have to do this again tonite????"

Friday was HM's annual tree-trimming party, each year with a specific theme-this year was Mexican-complete with margaritas, mariachis, and pinatas. (And let it be known, I am dangerous when trying to break a pinata...) And once again, Santa made an appearance and was way too happy to have the women sit on his lap :-p Had fun, but left relatively early (little after midnight)-as I wanted to make sure I got up in time to get a long run in before the Flyers' "meet the candidates" brunch. (Did a full 6, then did the 4-mile loop in the opposite direction of the Holiday 4-miler to cheer the runners on, then did another 1 to get over to the east side.)

Saturday was SS and DM's tree-trimming party-and combination potluck too, my contribution was a dozen cupcakes from Buttercup Bake Shop :) (what...you dont think I really used my oven for anything other than storage??) We all wined, dined, and made the tree pretty :)

Needless to say, I was pretty much useless on Sunday, with the exception of spin class, watching the Survivor finale, and finishing up a work document I had been procrastinating on for awhile.

The festivities have died down a bit-had a holiday lunch and gift exchange with my group at work this week, and then have my last holiday party of the season tomorrow nite. (Unless you count the 2 things I am sorta on the fence about...The Ball on XMas Eve and the Midnight Run on New Year's...)

Pictorial evidence from the Friday night party is below (since I have no pictures of Saturday and I know better than to post any pictures from Thursday's party publicly :) )

why do these things happen to me?

so yesterday evening, i indulged in a speed workout (6 reps of this steep-ass hill. boy, my a$$ was definitely feeling those uphills...)

and after said speed workout, me and a few others decided to meet for dinner afterwards-so i detoured home to clean up and dry off (was a little rainy before.) so i was about to leave my apartment...when I couldn't find my keys. Uh-oh...I had a sinking feeling I knew what I did, because yes, I had done that once before.

I friggin left my keys in my apartment front door. Which pretty much locked myself in my apartment.

Guess that workout left me more than a little scatterbrained?

Last time it happened-my across the hall neighbor was able to unlock me, but I was not sure if he was home this time. Thankfully, I called one of the cool peeps I was meeting and he was able to come over and bail me out of trouble :)

Dinner was good, and then...afterwards someone noticed someone's metrocard/money on the floor...yep you guessed it, it was mine, fell out of my pocket.

I swear, i would have lost my brain yesterday if it was not attached.

Thank god both me and my keys made it inside my apartment without incident after that. :-)

why i will not be doing this saturday's race...

I think the following cartoon says it all, why I will be skipping out on the Holiday 4-miler...

(This cartoon courtesy of the December 2007 Flyers newsletter and sketched by the fabulous Heidi, who got her inspiration for it from this post of mine. Flyers, if you haven't checked out her previous cartoons in the newsletter, I recommend you do so-they're great!!)

santa baby

And it wouldn't be a Flyers holiday party without at least one-or all-of the following...

• talk about the upcoming exec board election


• campaigning, kissing babies, or giving out candies and other assorted sweet stuff by said nominees


• massive alcohol consumption


• a visit from Santa, inviting all the Flyer women to sit on his lap. (Bonus points if said Santa is Jewish!)

Yeah, what can I say. I took the bait and sat on his lap :-p

And apparently what I told Santa I wanted for the holidays...well, apparently it was the most popular request of the night!!

clarity, or something like that

what a difference a year made for the Joe Kleinerman 10K...last year, i was under so much stress that I couldn't think, see or breathe straight...meaning many walk breaks. this year, thanks to a nice Flyers holiday party, a couple of tough things taken care of, a fun Toys for Tots run with the Flyers the day before, I definitely was able to think more clearly.

As I had mentioned before, I was really not expecting much here, considering the projected crowds between the next-to-last marathon qualifier and last club points race of the year. The weather was nice and it looked like a good day for running. I jogged a mile to the baggage area to warm up and saw Runner26 and Flyer JT, so we headed over to the start area together...and were joined by Crazy Bandana-head-and he actually lined up with the 3 of us instead of the local elite area where he belonged :) I saw camera in hand though, so guess this was just a fun run for him :-p So we were off...and the 4 of us actually started out together...that woulda made a cute picture. The mile-by-mile lowdown...

8:38-this split did not surprise me, due to Harlem Hill, but moreso how crowded it was...it didn't really start opening up til mile 3. After this mile, I made it my goal-make sure this is my slowest split of the day.
8:12-west side hills...little better, but still crowded. Saw Flyer BC taking pictures just past 102nd street, and spotted Flyers DG and LG on running on the bridle path and cheering.
7:58-downhill mile! Uptown Girl was cheering near the reservoir...but not sure if she saw me, as who was right by me? Crazy Bandana!! Boy he really must have been taking this one easy...
8:13-around the bottom of the park...kinda uneventful. Saw a couple of Flyers running in the opposite direction
8:21-Cat Hill. Tried to take shorter strides, to not tire myself out on this hill...I was keeping position and even passing people, so I guess it worked. Dr. Evil passed me and tried to scare me but his evil tactics didn't work this time. :-p
7:43-My plan was to try and run steady, then pick it up for the last 1.2...I guess it worked!! Saw Uptown Girl and JS cheering near the reservoir again, and BC taking more pictures (including this action shot) But dammit, a sidestich snuck up on me again...tried to breathe deep and ignore it...
1:35-sidestich still there, but figured I'd gut it out. The chute was narrow and crowded, but tried to push as hard as I could. Flyers JB and JA were cheering right before the last turn to the finish, which gave me a nice boost to kick it in!

Final time-50:40, 8:10 pace. Can't really tell since there was not an official 5K split, but looks like I may have run negative splits. And actually, I was a little surprised to see a time still in the 50s, I actually thought it was going to take 10 minutes to do the last 1.2 miles...guess no one is good at math 5 miles into a race. :-p

Hung around for a bit after the finish, chatted with other Flyers...but dammit, no Krispy Kremes!! I thought this was tradition for this race :-( Did an easy coupla cooldown miles up/down CPW to give me 10 miles for the day (leaving me less than a mile shy of 30 miles for the week)

So, this was a good workout...yep, workout, not race. I have honestly come to the conclusion that when you are not in the 74% AG group-you really can't expect to run your best in these ridiculously crowded races. So, I think the plan for next year will be as follows...use the NYRR races to get my 9 qualifiers in/support the team for points races/do long runs-but if I am chasing a time goal-look outside NYRR (with the exception of races like the Mini 10K and Club Champs, where I can get a clean start.) Again-any suggestions for good (local) non-NYRR races are welcome!!

it has begun...

and it couldn't even wait til December. yep, the holiday season. the holiday parties have already started, and there's quite a few more on the horizon...

(though i'm not surprised about the early start, considering XMas decorations have been up in stores since after Halloween!! And Hanukkah is early this year...)

This past Friday, I crashed the TRD holiday party (well not really crashed, as I was invited :-P ) Was fun and quite a late night (cant remember the last time I stayed out past 3 am!) and rendered me useless on Saturday-with the exception of a 10-mile long run where I everso gracefully tripped and fell on the bridle path-and no that was not due to alcohol, I wasn't even hung over!! :-p (my butt still hurts even now from the fall though...and I know I am opening myself up to a lot of comments on that one from my smartazz commentors :-p )

This week brings the Flyers holiday party, and Hanukkah with the family over the weekend. Then next week has the extended weekend of the holiday party, with my work party next Thursday, and 2 others on Friday and Saturday!! And I just got an invite for another party the weekend after...

But I'm not complaining at all, I'm glad that I can actually enjoy it all this year!! (Well with the exception of not partaking in eating a lot of holiday treats...booo...)

And running...well, just finished my 4th week in a row of 30+ miles (too bad that the majority of those miles were done at a snail-like pace...) So it is kinda sorta getting there. Still not expecting much on Sunday though. But running in the cold has not been that bad so far, I think some of my new winter apparel has helped...guess it's all in the attire...

an open letter to brightroom

Dearest Brightroom,

I have no doubt noticed, that it is that time of the year again. What time, you may ask? Why, the holidays, which bring the constant email reminders to my inbox that a Brightroom picture makes the perfect holiday gift for family, friends, enemies, etc...

But seriously, you don't think some of those reminders are overkill?

First off, my email server does not love the fact that I have to get the reminder emails for each event not once, but twice.

Second, in a good majority of the races you have emailed me about, you did not even get any pictures of me, since you seem to focus more on getting pictures of people at the front of the pack. Let's all think about this logically for a second-why would I purchase pictures from an event that you got none of me?

Third, those piccys are just way.too.expensive. I think I can find more creative things to do with my $$$.

So please, cease the constant emails. Both myself and my inbox would be everso appreciative.

Love, kisses and fluffy bunnies,
NYFlyGirl

(nope, I didn't really send this note that drips of sarcasm. but boy would I want to...)

can a girl have too many running skirts?

oh, damn you SkirtSports. is it not enough that I have spent way too much money over the last couple of weeks on both running and non-running stuff, and gave into the temptation of your end-of-October sale...but your new limited edition holiday GymGirl skirt is calling my name...telling me it will look soooo cute with my long-sleeve black Flyers shirt....

and on top of all that, I am sorta intrigued by the new determination skirt by atalanta....this skirt/capris combo doesn't look half-bad...at least I like this one better than SkirtSports' attempt at a cold-weather skirt (does help that the colors are a little more flattering)

I need skirt intervention. Or something.

insert witty post title here

yeah i know, i've become a once-a-week blogger. (and i obviously cant seem to think of any cute post titles either.) i guess part of the reason is that on a day-to-day basis, i don't have as much blogging material as i used to...or material that i want to mention publicly.

so yeah...since the marathon weekend, things have been sorta status quo. i'm glad to mention that my "do not slack off on running during the colder months" has gone well so far. the last 2 weeks have consisted of at least 30 miles each (a long run, a speed workout, and 3 shorter runs) and a spin class. I do have to admit that vanity is the main motivator at this time...I have a dress for the Flyers awards gala that I need to fit into-yeah Flyer readers, I know it's early but hey-when you see a great dress on sale in June that you know would be perfect the following February, you snatch it up!! Plus I am a bit nervous about the upcoming holiday season...being surrounded by goodies like cookies and chocolate and whatever else is at holiday parties...

And on that topic, thankfully it looks like I am going to be able to celebrate the holiday season this year, as work is not the living hell it was last year (what a difference getting a monster project out of my hair makes...) Hell I am taking tomorrow off from work-can't remember the last time I was able to take the Wednesday before Turkey Day off!! Will be heading home to NJ for the weekend-good news is my mom is cooking and she is the better cook :) bad news is my mom is cooking so more good stuff to eat (must...run....thursday morning...)

Racing? Probably only the Kleinerman 10K next month-only because it's a points race, and really not expecting much due to it most likely being crowded...honestly, I'd love to stay away from all December NYRR races, since they are packed with people trying to get in the last of their 9 marathon qualifiers (thank god I had mine in by June!!)

And on the more mysterious side-there is something going on that I really can't mention in detail-but I really wish I could because moral support would be appreciated :) It's something risky...I would have a lot to gain, but it could backfire...but the thought at this point is "what do I have to lose." Intrigued? I'm sure. (I bet I know what the obvious assumption is...and it's not that!!)

Happy Turkey Day to everyone!!

a belated marathon weekend re-crap

Yeah-I meant to get this up a lot earlier-it's just been quite the hectic week. So here goes!!

Thursday-made a guest appearance at the Flyers pasta party-we made another return to Sambuca, as it was great last year. But I really could not justify pigging out when I would not be running 26.2 miles...oh well, at least it was good to see and chat with everyone!! (pic is of me and runner26)

Friday-had the day off from work, so hit up the expo. Since I didn't have to cancel my entry, I wanted to get my goodie bag-which i was quite underwhelmed with, except for the shirt (though orange is not exactly my color!) And the expo was quite underwhelming too, compared to previous years. But I did manage to do some damage to my credit card-a new pair of sunglasses to replace the ones that broke, a travel-size Stick, a cold-weather Mizuno top, and a pair of capri tights and a jacket from Sugoi (all Sugoi stuff was on sale!) Yeah, may have gone overboard, but have my reasons. Oh, and saw blogger Brooklyn again working at the check-in line!

Saturday-I already gave my Trials recap in the previous post...

Sunday-once again, was working at the mile 18 PowerGel station. My plan was to get there for the 10 am shift so I could see the elites, but stay long enough to cheer on the crowds too. The weather was a little chilly, but I was still wearing running-type clothes-a skirt and long-sleeve Flyers top-and my bib. Just in case anyone needed me to run with them, I would be prepared. Unlike previous years where I had no clue how the race was going, this year I had my Treo with me and was following along. So I wasn't surprised to see Radcliffe and Wami way in front as they passed by mile 18. Soon enough, the elite men and the masses passed by. Lance Armstrong was quite UTR this year-I didn't even see him!! Crazy Bandana-head passed by, camera in hand (and got this picture of me cheering) on his way to another BQ. Also saw Jon and Danny, but missed Johnny (as he was not wearing Flyers gear.) But also missed Katie Holmes-oh well, I saw enough in the post-race coverage :-p Once again, it was a blast handing out gels and really having a front-row seat for this thing. And congrats to all the runners!

Later that night was the post-marathon party...where quite a few of us had quite a bit to drink...as the pictures show :)

From the stories I heard about the transportation hassles, the wave starts, the baggage nightmares, and the chip times not getting recorded for quite a bit of the orange start...I am glad I decided to sit this year out. And I think I am ready to gear up for next year. The key is going to be not slacking off this winter like I did last year (and hopefully dropping those stubborn 15-20 extra pounds!) Luckily, work isnt as hellish as it was last year, and the new cold-weather clothes will help...hopefully my teammates can help keep me motivated too!!

mens olympic trials

The terrific threesome that will be representing the US next year!
(taken via my cell phone at the awards ceremony)

*********************************************************

wow...this morning was truly an emotional rollercoaster. this sport saw its share of highs and lows....a horrible, horrible tragedy...to what is going to be a super-strong team in Beijing next year.

The Flyers were given the opportunity to work the aid stations at the OT Trials. Who cares that I had to get up before dawn (hey, I wasn't running a marathon the next day!)-when else do you have such a major event in your own backyard? I was assigned to the station just north of the finish line...so the runners would come by around miles 2, 11, 16 and 21...then we can try to see the finish!! I got there at 6:30 and helped set up...was still dark out, and boy was it chilly and windy. But the time went by fast, and before we knew it, the race had begun. And around 10 minutes in, we saw the lead vehicles, and then the runners!!! There was a surprise leader way in front (which we all thought would fade later,) but all the favorites were in the main pack. So cool to see these guys up close.

Since we had about 45 minutes to kill-a bunch of us got some coffee to warm us up, then we headed back to the station. And that was when we heard the news-that Ryan Shay had gone down around mile 5 1/2. All we knew was that he had been taken away in an ambulance-one of our teammates was hopeful that he'd be ok-mentioning that Salazar had a heart attack and is still alive today-but that news cast a dark shadow over our group for the time being. Man...words can't describe what was going through my head at the time...what was probably going through all our heads...

When we saw the runners for miles 11 and 16-the pack was a little bit more strung out. (Not surprisingly-the early leader had dropped back quite a bit.) Was so cool cheering for the runners, seeing a lot of them up close...Hall, Ritz, Meb, Abdi, Sell...and a couple other dark horses that I was rooting for too...Matt Downin (a former Bergen County-ite, and winner of many NYRR races) and Josh Cox (of "The Bachelorette" fame!)

By mile 21-we all knew who had the race. Ryan Hall was absolutely flying, and had a sizeable lead at that point. Man...he was making it look so. damn. easy. Ritz was in second and he took a cup of water from the table I was at :) As soon as the sweeper bike came by, a bunch of us dashed to the finish, to hopefully catch a glimpse of the winner breaking the tape...but too late!! But we heard the news-that the top 3 were Hall/Ritz/Sell...and Hall had won in 2:09!! Are you kidding me...less than a minute off his London time, on a course as tough as this...unbelievable!! Ritz showed once again that he owned Central Park...and Sell ran a very smart race. I'm very excited to see how this unfolds next summer!! Another men's marathon medal for the US, perhaps?

And I'm very excited to see a great women's race tomorrow as well...I'll be at my usual vantage point, volunteering at mile 18. I'm hoping that Jelena 3-peats (and wins the WMM as well!) but I'm hoping Paula has a great race too.

And best of luck to everyone else running tomorrow!

(and my thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Ryan Shay.)

underwhelming

I think I can use that word to describe all of NYRR's races these days.

Ran the Marathon Kickoff 5-miler yesterday. Honestly-was quite uneventful and underwhelming. 42:16, 8:27 pace, splits 8:23/8:13/8:41/8:24/8:35 Just wasn't feeling it after mile 1, and pretty much ran the whole thing as a tempo effort.

I wish I could get excited about races again, but it's been hard these days...

you know it's marathon time in NYC if...

I was in JackRabbit today during my lunch hour, and the salesperson noted that "everyone who has come in here has bought BodyGlide" and I said "you know it's marathon time if that's the case!!"

So, I thought I'd start a little list on here...will add to it as I think of other things (or any of you other NYC bloggers can help out too :) )

You Know It's Marathon Time In NYC If... (credit to author in parentheses)

1. Everyone who walks into Jackrabbit, Urban Athletics, Super Runners Shop, Paragon, etc. to make a purchase buys BodyGlide. (me!)
2. All the Body Glide is sold out. Along with the GU and PowerGel and Amphipods. (BCG)
3. The bleachers are up near 72nd Street in Central Park. (BCG)
4. 50,000 white guys are chasing one black guy through Harlem. (Peter)
5. Liquid is raining off the Verrazano bridge into the bay below - and it's not rain. (Peter)
6. Weather.com issues press release saying due to abnormally high traffic as soon as its Nov. 4 forecast was posted, the site crashed. (Jon)

halloween costuming-need advice!!

OK, gonna do the Halloween thing next Wednesday...and trying to think of a costume-definitely NOT repeating my costume from 2 years ago...

Anyways, talking to my colleague, and was thinking of wearing one of my running skirts and she was like-"just pin on a number and you can be a runner-easy and cheap idea for a costume."

And you know what? She's right.

So...I am coming to you, my readers, to help me complete my outfit. I was thinking running skirt (most likely one of the ones from runningskirts.com)...maybe with thigh-high socks? What kind of top? Anything else that comes to mind? (And before any of you men say it-no jogbra.*)

*EDIT-what I meant there was don't tell me to wear just a jogbra. And inspired by the smartass comments I have received so far...don't tell me to go topless either :-p

broken.

ugh. another day, another crap race.

Since NYRR assumes that everyone in the NYC area is doing the marathon (and therefore no need for short races in October)-and in an effort to do a race that doesn't deal with the Central Park hills-I decided to run a 5K near my NJ hometown. I ran this 3 years ago, weather was perfect (though a little windy,) the course was flat, I ran a PR (22:37) and placed 2nd in my age group. I thought it was a great race and wanted to do it again-but couldnt in 2005 (injury) and 2006 (marathon.) Well here was my chance. But a lot changes in 3 years...

First, the weather. This freakishly hot fall was continuing and I felt it even during my warm-up. Considering how affected I am by the heat, it didn't look good. This race was not chip-timed, and there were no pace markers by the start so it was sort of a free-for-all. I managed to get a decent spot-before anyone says it, yeah, maybe I didn't deserve to be up close (in the first couple of rows) but there were people ahead of me who had less of a place being there. Spoiled by chip technology, I guess...Anyway, the horn goes off and we're running. The first mile is pretty flat and clocked in at 7:43...not bad but a little bit slower than I wanted...

Here was a change that was not for the better. Near the end of mile 2, there was a very annoying hill-it was short but it still was enough to effect us-kind of reminded me of mile 13 of the Queens half!! And it definitely took its toll as mile 2 was 8:24. And it was really getting hot...the course had little to no shade. (The fact that the race started at 11:15 didnt exactly help...)

So I had to average 7:52 or better for the last 1.1 to at least break an 8-minute pace...easy enough, right? The race ended on a long straightaway where I could see the finish line in the distance. I tried picking up the pace...but just. could not. get. there. I was quite surprised at the last 1.1 miles being 8:51 (hate it when there is no mile 3 marker) and my final time was 24:58. Didn't even break an 8-minute pace. So disappointed. And to add insult to injury, I didn't even place in my age group, I was one place out of it.

A friend said to me "It's okay to feel disappointed, but it's not okay to feel broken. Broken is when you give up." I haven't given up-but I do feel broken. Basically-this past winter broke me. I feel like a pale shadow of what I used to be, and no matter how hard I try, or what I do, I can't fix the problem. I had 1 decent race this year...so what? Does this mean I can only run well when it's 50 degrees and I am 3,000 miles from home? I don't know. I'm just feeling so lost and confused now.

sometimes, dilbert can say it better than i can

This wound up in my inbox today. And i think this explains a lot, why I am such a disgruntled employee :-p

riddle me this...

so, in the mail today I got a registration card for the NYC Marathon. (ya know...that little race I signed up for, like, months ago, and decided not to run when life got in the way of training.)

And as you remember, my deferred 2005 number and my 2006 number that actually got put to use had me in the F3xxx corral.

And I was the 2,086th female at last year's race. And I had an actual marathon time to put down (instead of a half time), predicted time wasn't less agressive than before (I had put 3:50)

So how did I wind up assigned a corral back-in the F4000s?

And more importantly...

Why do I even care so much? I'M NOT RUNNING THE DAMN THING!!

:-)

so emotional

(warning-this post may be all over the place.)

I wasn't running a marathon on October 7, 2007. Hell, I wasn't running any type of race that day.

But somehow, I felt connected to those who struggled that day...the day that Mother Nature turned several popular fall marathons into infernos...

Backing up...I was following the Chicago Marathon online, tracking several Flyers, as early as 9 am (our time) I knew that it was going to be a warm one, however it looked like my teammates had decent first halfs. Maybe they would be spared the worst of it...sigh of relief.

But then, the paces started seriously slipping in the 2nd half. The 5K updates were further and further apart. Clearly, the situation was worse than I imagined. And then the tracking went down (overflooded with people trying to get updates!) and then the news stories broke about there being no water/Gatorade, the medics on double duty and the race getting called around 4 hours in. Shit. To cancel a race...especially a major marathon...things must have been horrible, as you never hear about this happening!!

My concern turned then to my teammates. I knew Crazy Bandana was OK, as he was reported to have finished (and pretty damn good for the conditions too!) but the others...they hadn't come in yet. Were they still on the course? Would they be allowed to finish? Were they OK? Damn tracking server...couldn't you have anticipated all the traffic? Luckily, one of my teammates had updates sent to him, and it appeared that everyone had finished-whether or not they completed the full 26.2, or completed it walking vs. running, we did not know, but at least everyone was accounted for.

The remainder of the day...I swear, I could not tear myself away from the coverage. Why was this affecting me so much? So many people I felt bad for...

Those that weren't able to make it to the finish line OK...and their families/loved ones...

The marathon "newbies"...it was horrible that these people got robbed of their first marathon "experience"...

Those going for an OT qualifier...at least for the women, they have an extra couple months, but for the men, this was their "last chance at the dance"...seems like everyone who ran a marathon on October 7th (be it Chicago, Twin Cities, Steamtown) with a lofty time goal in mind got screwed by the weather...

And everyone else inbetween...I've been there, I know how much time and dedication training for a marathon takes-whether it is your first or 100th, and it broke my heart to see the goal prematurely ended for thousands-due to something out of their control.

And then the thought...My god, that could have been me out there.

Yeah, remember I was considering signing up for this race. But I couldn't commit to a marathon so early in the year-didn't want to drop $110 on a race that I wasn't sure I was going to run (plus it filled up in April as well.) And knowing how horribly the heat affects me, it may not have been a pretty sight. Would I have known to stop or slow down? Would I have been one of those who ended up in the med tent-or worse? If things happen for a reason...I'm glad whatever chain of events led to me skipping out on this one. (And I have a feeling several other Flyers-who were originally signed up but had to drop due to injury-may be thinking the same...)

And thinking back on my one and only marathon experience...I had it pretty damn good. The weather was perfect, I got my time goal, and with the exception of some sore quads, I was no worse for wear at the end. Why me? Why did I deserve the positive experience, and to get my goal? And the thousands of people who ran yesterday didn't?

Made me think too, the allure of the marathon is kinda bittersweet...to complete it, the payoff is so huge. But when there are things that can't be controlled-like yesterday's heat and the Nor'easter this year in Boston...it sucks that there are all the weeks of training and nothing to show for it-and I can't speak for other people, but for me-I feel like there would only be one shot per training cycle-my body doesn't recover as fast as others. Unlike shorter races, where if you don't get it right the first time...you can always try again in a week or so.

Well all things said-congrats to all who survived yesterday (whether Chicago or elsewhere.)

And Crazy bandana-head, and Flyers ES, JT, AK, JC, DC, FR (and sorry if there is anyone i forgot!)-you guys are rock stars.

running angry

anger-or other strong emotions-great motivator.

first off, my infamous bitchfest about the Queens half found its way into the fabulous Flyer newsletter. Yeah, either our newsletter editor either really liked my writeup or he was desperate for articles (I am assuming the latter :-p) anyway, he put it in there-slightly edited to remove strong language-remember, this is a family-friendly newsletter. :)

Then today at work. After 4 PM, I noticed a mistake on a hardcopy report that already went out. I had received the wrong file from our data processing department-in this final stage, they really should have made sure I received the correct file, but I missed it. I was able to get correct electronic copies out, but the damage was done, and this was the wrong project to f*ck up on. Needless to say, I was very...upset? scared? some other emotion?

I guess I used that emotion to my advantage tonite at speedwork. the workout was 6 times a half-mile around the great lawn oval at 5k pace, with a nice rest inbetween (yay!) Honestly, at this point, with halfs having been my focus the last coupla months, I didn't even remember what 5k pace felt like!! But I needed to get a feel for it for an upcoming 5k...was hoping to do somewhere in the 7:30's pace for the race, or better (my PR, set 3 years ago, was 7:17 pace-but that was when I was in much, much better shape.) Was pleasantly surprised that my splits tonite were 3:41/3:41/3:41/3:44/3:45. No "rabbit the first repeat and run 10 seconds slower for the remaining repeats"-guess the recovery helped! And if I can really run between 7:22-7:30 pace for 5k, i'd be happy...

Now i really hope this workout did its real job and will help me sleep tonite...

now playing: "do it" ~ nelly furtado

birthdays, SATC-style

ok, i've always enjoyed visiting certain restaurants/bars that are featured in Sex and the City, and my 31st b-day was no exception...

Wednesday brought lunch w/ the co-workers at Tortilla Flats (the place of the "double date" in this episode between Carrie/Aidan and Miranda/Steve when Carrie wanted to get back with Aidan and Miranda/Steve were just wing-people...) Fun place, the guac/chips and fajitas were very good, as were the 2 pitchers of strawberry margaritas that our table shared. To top it all off, the waitress gave us complimentary tequila shots...and I had to do 2 (someone at our table didn't want hers.) Needless to say, I was not productive the rest of the afternoon :) I did have a very nice b-day dinner and was definitely a treat that the Yanks clinched a playoff berth that nite!! Yayyyy Yanks!!


Then a special treat at our group meeting the next morning was cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery!! Best.friggin.cupcakes.EVER. (and featured in this SATC episode when Carrie was telling Miranda about her crush on Aidan.)


Friday was the real celebration, and even though I don't think Absolutely 4th was featured on SATC, many martinis were consumed. I'm proud of myself that while co-workers were pre-gaming while waiting for my shindig to begin, I refrained from drinking anything but water and made sure to eat...I guess with age comes wisdom. Somewhat. Plus I actually wanted to remember my celebration this year :) Anyway, we took over a nice corner of the bar...and the funny part is that the runners scared the co-workers away :) Oh well, their loss!! I had probably around 50 peeps (including quite a few bloggers) from the first drink at 7 til my last sip after midnight. Definitely a great time...now how do I top it next year? :-p

And I got my big b-day present this weekend!! A Palm Treo. Now I can be totally accessible :-p All joking aside, I needed to replace the phone and the PDA, might as well combine the 2!!

And on the topic of baseball...oh. mah. gawd. I was hysterical laughing during the 1st inning of the Mutts game today. Can't wait to see the front pages tomorrow!! I think my office will have a lot of quiet Mets fans tomorrow...yes, the same people that were quite vocal earlier in the season...

now playing: "champion" ~ kanye west

with apologies to all mets fans...

...but i love some of these newspaper covers.



I especially like seeing that shit-eating grin wiped off Mr. Met's face :-)

In the meantime, the Yanks clinching yet another playoff berth on wednesday was a great b-day present...

another year older...

...and none the wiser!! :-p

today is submaster + 1! will i learn from my overindulgences last year...time will tell!!

and speaking of the hills

no, not the hills in Queens, these Hills!!

I mentioned my addiction back here during the second season, now the third season is even better...

the tension between LC and Heidi!! will they ever be friends again?

who really spead the sex tape rumor?

who's the most evil guy on the show-Spencer, Jason or "Justin Bobby"?

Audrina and "Justin Bobby"-on again, off again?

how many more friendships will Heidi wreck?

and the infamous Heidi/Spencer wedding-will it ever happen?

(plus gotta love Gawker's catty commentary on the show.)

And to top it all off, for my b-day, my brother got me the 2nd season on DVD. I watched half the episodes the day I got it!! Such a guilty viewing pleasure.

if it ain't broke...

"what was up with all the f*cking hills?"
"this started too damn early."
"it took forever to get here."
"why was this scheduled the day after yom kippur?"
"this sucked."

And that was just a sampling of what was heard after today's Queens half. A new date, start time and course change wound up turning what was my favorite NYRR half into my least favorite. I absolutely loved the old course-a 2-looper through College Point and Malba, not too hilly, in late April/early May so the weather was always great, and I was always able to consistently run under 1:50 (1:47 and 1:48, to be exact.)

But this year, it was decided to change the course from a 2-looper to a 1-looper including Whitestone as well. Which forced a new date in September and an earlier start time (7 am)...which seemed to cause a bunch of logistical issues. With a 7am start time, you can't really rely on public transportation, so the bus from NYRR is the best bet. However, they didn't really plan for that, and the bus was sold out early (thank god I got my ticket early!) and left a lot of peeps scrambling to find either a ride or some type of alternate way out to Queens. Second, the date was less than ideal, being that yesterday was Yom Kippur, which meant fasting for 24 hours. Yeah...great half-marathon prep.

I wasn't sure how I'd do, my training had not been going well ever since the San Francisco Half, and it was warmer than I would like...but was hoping to get under 1:50. I made it out there in one piece, though the bus driver kept driving in circles once we got to College Point...I was thisclose to faking being sick so I could walk. But we got there, and there were lots of people sitting down in the dark, trying to kill an hour...seemed like the marathon start. Saw NSA, and Johnny and a few other Flyers and chatted. Finally it was time to get to the start...oh, and anyone note in Mary Wittenberg's speech, that "we were a part of history, there's never been a race start at 7 am." Um...didn't the NYC Half start at 7 am? Not to mention the old-school late-August version of the Manhattan Half? Anyway, off the subject here.

So yeah, we started. First mile was slower than I wanted, there was quite a bottleneck in the first mile...made up for it a little on the 2nd...slowed on the 3rd and had a feeling it was not gonna be my day...never, ever again will I do a half marathon the day after Yom Kippur. I definitely was not properly fueled, even though I ended the fast a coupla hours early and tried to eat as much as possible yesterday evening and this morning...these mile splits tell a story of someone who hit the wall hard at mile 4, and was just trying to hang on for the last 9 miles...

1. 8:42
2. 8:18
3. 8:42
4. 8:59
5. 9:06
6. 9:08
7. 9:11
8. 8:44
9. 8:58
10. 9:13
11. 9:31
12. 9:01
13. 9:20

Last .1 :53

The goals kept changing from "1:50" to "1:55" to "just get in under 2 hours." Hell, at one point a DNF sounded appealing-I was so off my goal time, what did I have to prove by finishing? But I didn't know how I'd get back to the start and my baggage (and my family was taking me out for an early birthday dinner later in the day, so I needed to earn the extra calories.) The scenery on the course was nice, though I was too delirious and too busy climbing to appreciate it...I thought I was hill trained before today, the hills on this course killed me-especially that one in mile 13 that I actually had to walk up. And to put things in perspective-SF was easier than this!! There were at least a good share of downhills and flats in the SF half. Here, I felt like we were going uphill the entire time. (You can see the elevation here...)

Finally, somehow, I made it to the end...a bunch of Reservoir Dog guys who had finished cheered for me in the last .1 mile (thanks guys!! I really needed to hear that)...crossed the finish line in 1:57:46 (8:59 pace)...I had never been so happy to be done with a half-marathon in my life. First thing I did was get ice from the med tent for my knees which hated all the climbing (they're fine now!)...then was the usual game of "spot the blogger" on the way to get my bags...saw Moz, Crazy Bandana-head and Uptown Girl, in addition to other Flyers and Rez Dogs...the usual post-race recrapping. Thoughts on the new course among the masses were mixed, but the majority was a thumbs-down.

Not sure what to make of my race. I know there were things out of my control, but I know I'm capable of much, much better than a 1:57...I feel like I have to do something about my training, I just don't know what!! I'm a little disappointed in running a PW today...2 minutes slower than last year's Staten Island half (which you may remember, I was only doing as a training run...whereas I was trying to put in the effort this time!) But I'm a little sad that my favorite half is really no more...as this post title says, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!! If this course remains, I definitely will not be doing this race next year...and will need to look outside NYRR for some good halfs (any recommendations, anyone?)

moving on...

ok, you can all help me with a profile picture change.

i'm debating between 2...my current one...or this one from club champs...

(I wish I could nab bigger ones of my SF half photos so I could use one of those-damn marathonfoto!)

down and out

This pretty much sums up how my running has gone this week..

First off, I had to take Monday as a rest day (from running, at least)-as my legs were just spent from the weekend. As a result, I missed out on what was described by many as a very fun run...(though it may have been a good thing I skipped the ice cream...I sure as hell didn't deserve it with 2 holiday dinners with the family that week.)

Speedwork on Tuesday was a disaster. The workout was on the Great Lawn Oval-3 x 1.02 miles, then 2 x .51 miles. Intensity?-"as hard as we can." I was barely hanging on to half-marathon pace by the end of the mile repeats, and the half-miles weren't much better. It was a very humid night, but jeez...it *is* mid-September, shouldn't I be acclimated by now?

Then the LTR on Saturday. It did not go well for me at all. The irony? I was actually doing my job!! (Which was pacing the 9:30 group for 11 miles.) All the 9:30 pace leaders were broken up into 4 groups and I was with 2 others (who had done this before too.) I made it perfectly clear-I wanted to run 9:30s. Period. The first mile started off on pace. Then...deja vu of the last LTR. I began really struggling with the pace, and falling way behind the other 2 leaders and a good chunk of the group. The 2nd mile split looked too fast, and I yelled to the other runners that if they were ahead of me, they were going too fast-shocker, no one listened to me, not even the other pace leaders. The third mile sucked too and I was wondering if I was going to have to drop back to the 10's for the next loop-as I could not keep the pace (not that there was anything wrong with having to drop back a group-but there were a lot of pace leaders for the 10's and barely enough for the 9:30s) The third mile split was again too fast and by that time I had had enough. I yelled again that whoever is in front of me was going too fast-and that they should run ahead to the 9:00 pace group. Thankfully by this time, some other runners finally agreed with me and pulled it back. Shocker of shockers, we were right on pace for the remainder of the 6-mile loop.

However-the fact that the "rabbits" of the group ended 2 minutes before I did meant that they were departing for the 2nd loop just as I got to the transverse-so I had to tell the Flyers acting as marshalls that I couldn't leave right away and explain the situation. I was told that "everyone's going fast, they're just excited, deal with it." Sorry-but I don't want to "deal with it." If I wanted to run 9's, I would have paced the 9 minute group. Plain and simple. And besides, these runners expect to run 9:30s and I'm sure will complain if the pace is too fast. Plus that made me feel that my efforts to do the job right and stay on pace just are not appreciated. For the 5-mile loop, I just waited for the next group of 9:30s to come in and joined up with them-thankfully, the group stayed together and on pace for this loop (or so we thought-all the mile markers had been taken away!), then I was done!!

(Just an FYI-i know-especially for the "newbies"-that pace leading isnt the easiest thing. It took me a couple of LTR's to get it down, but once I did, things were fine!)

This run was a big ego-crusher...again, if 9-9:15ish miles gave me trouble, then how do I ever expect to run a good half next week? And 3 years ago, 9-9:15 miles would have been considered easy...I wish I had those days back.

Well that was the "down," the "out" is that I am sorta feeling on the outs with my running club. I feel like I am missing out on so much, running-wise...I can't do most of the group runs, because I am too damn slow and I just cannot hold on to the pace. Back when BCG used to co-lead the Thursday night runs, at least I knew she and I would stick together-but she is back in Chicago. I'm not training for a marathon, so I have no need to do 18-20 milers out of town on the weekends-but it seems like the majority of the club is in marathon training. I do what I can, but I still feel a little left out. Kind of makes me wonder-where is my place?

What to do, what to do...

it's not the heat...

Or maybe it was. Someone said to me this past weekend that it seems like ever since I got back from my San Francisco trip, that I've been much less tolerant of the heat than normal. Maybe he was right. In any case, I sure felt it on Saturday.

Only did 15 miles worth of the Palisades Run compared to last year's 20, but man, it felt tougher. As opposed to last year-where not only did I not have to walk, but I was able to pick up the pace for the last 5 miles...I found myself having to walk a couple of times. (Only consolation was that I was not lapped by any 20-milers til the end...hi, Crazy bandana-head.) It was definitely warmer and more humid than last year, and I was not the only one who noted a difference...another (faster) runner admitted that he had a tougher time this year than in previous years and thought the weather had something to do with it. Good to know it wasn't only me...

But, still would have rather done a nice 15-miler in the heat rather than trying to race a 4-miler in Central Park in the heat that morning (yeah-I skipped out on a club points race for this...) just may mean that I may have to adjust my goals for Queens if it is another scorcher. Is it fall yet?

But one good thing compared to last year-I wasn't nearly as sore as last year (probably partially due to the walking, also partially due to not doing 20 and skipping out on the "grand puba" hill) and was able to partake in some of the games at yesterday's Flyers "field day." There were some pretty amusing games-especially one involving a baseball bat that my teammate describes so well here.

But I guess sack races, three-legged races and others take more out of the legs than one would think, because they are begging for a night off from running. I'll give them their way and hit a spinning class instead tonite...

And on a non-running note-anyone else watch the trainwreck that was Britney's VMA performance?

who says central park isn't a small world?

yeah, yesterday was intended to be a 4-mile recovery run on the bridle paths of Central Park-needing to recover from a tough workout Wednesday night.

so i started running counterclockwise on the bridle path, and i was just about to turn off onto the path heading north...well Uptown Girl tells the story here. :-) Saw her, and Chelle one right behind the other...it was funny, like an impromptu bloggers meetup!! So we all ran together for a few miles and chatted about running, work, men, dating, blogging, all of you :-p Even though the other 2 gals continued on after I cut off (Uptown Girl was in the midst of a 20 miler!) I still wound up with 6 miles for the evening...more than I intended, but the socializing was worth it!! :) (And it made the 4 Blue Moons I knocked back later that evening even more deserving...)

Tomorrow...15 miles with the Flyers in the Palisades...yep, same run I did last year-though since I am doing the shorter route, I get to escape the "grand puba of all hills" that I had to deal with halfway through last year :) This will be as far as I go, distance-wise before the Queens Half in a couple of weeks...

love potion no. 9

OK, "love" potion may not be the right term, but you have to admit it's fitting with the picture.

I'm addicted to this new coffee place that just opened up in Chelsea Market this week...their lattes are probably stronger than Starbucks*, and how can you not love the fact that the baristas would pour the steamed milk in so that it forms a cute design on the top?

*Strong coffee was definitely needed this morning. After an absolute killer fartlek speed workout last nite that just knocked me out so early that I couldn't watch most of the Roddick-Federer match, I was still tired this morning!!

and now, for the running fashion portion...

it's crazy, with fall fashions out in the stores now and I buy more running clothes than street clothes. I guess that shows where my priorities are :)

But I tried out an awesome new find yesterday...I was quite annoyed during a long run last weekend when my trusty RaceReady shorts (the ones I wore in the marathon, no less!) kept riding up and chafing the hell outta me.

While doing some shopping, I noted another style of RaceReady shorts that I hadn't really seen/considered before...I tried them out and wouldn't you know it, no chafing, no riding up!! (And they actually don't look half bad on me either...I usually try to shy away from tight shorts like those.)

And I'm about to test out a new running skirt...stay tuned, I will be writing my own running skirt roundup shortly :)

good sports day

That would be yesterday!

Yanks swept the Sawx...

The Mutts got swept by Philly...

My bro and I attended the US Open for the 2nd year in a row and got to witness Andy Roddick win, as well as Martina Hingis (well the latter was more important to my brother.)

Almost makes up for the fact that I had to turn down a last-minute ticket to Wednesday's Yanks-Sox game due to being stuck at work til 8pm. Oh, the price I have to pay to see some live tennis...

state of the blog address

well, seeing as I had been called out-and the fact that some of my other fellow bloggers have recently pulled the plugs on their blogs...felt the need to comment.

yeah, i guess my blog has been sorta blah now compared to the good old days. honestly, things are much different than 2 years ago...

work-well you know whats going on, dont need to go there. running-also not going as well as i'd like. Plus I think now that I've done my first marathon, that novelty is gone...and I don't look to be chasing a BQ until 2011...and it seems like blogging about half-marathon training or shorter distance training isn't quite as interesting. dating-I just want to keep that off the blog for now. And I guess in a way, I've felt like I've had to censor myself much more than I used to...

In a nutshell, life has been hectic lately, and I haven't really been able to update this thing as much as I used to (hell, I still havent written my SF vacay recrap!)

But I'm still around. Maybe not as much as I used to be, maybe not as exciting as I used to be, but I ain't going anywhere for now (whether you all like that or not... :) )

great expectations

Now I finally know how the elite runners in last year's NYC Marathon felt. With the most stacked field in awhile, the best conditions in awhile, the buzz was that this was going to be an exciting race, course records were going to fall...which as we all knew, didn't happen.

That's sorta how I felt about Saturday's Club Team Championships. As far as Central Park races go, this was my favorite. The weather conditions called for an unseasonably cool day. The field was much, much smaller than normal (how bout 500 instead of 5000 peeps!) due to the club-only race and the separate men's/women's starts. Basically-all signs pointed to a good race...hence the "great expectations" in the title. Not to be...

Mile 1-8:03
Mile 2-7:52
Mile 3-8:13
Mile 4-8:19
Mile 5-7:43

Final result, 40:10 (8:02 pace)

Before anyone says it-I'm sure, just looking at the numbers, that it didn't seem like a bad race. However-last year-when it was almost 20 degrees warmer, much more humid, and I had tired legs from marathon training, I did this race in 39 minutes. (And in fact, my recent SF half time, on a much tougher course, predicted 39 minutes for a 5-miler too...)

I'm still not sure what happened. First mile-I felt I was still warming up a bit...2nd mile I made up the time a little bit on the downhill...3rd mile had the least crowd support...4th mile was Cat Hill, but I actually did a little better than I thought I would there. I looked at my watch and saw that I'd need a 7:32 last mile to get under 40...could I do it? Although there was quite a bit of cheering, it seemed a little more subdued than last year (and it seemed that there were a couple of teams who went out of their way to not cheer for me) though the Flyers were great, as usual..I tried to push it, but wasn't enough and was disappointed to see the 40:xx on my watch. Though apparently I wiped the disappointment off my face long enough to get nabbed by the NYRR photographer here...

But the non-competitve stuff was fun. I liked cheering our guys on in mile 1 and near the end, and our annual team picnic afterwards. And lots of the Flyer women, including myself were modeling our new fitted top...looked quite nice!! And later that afternoon, we took on CPTC in softball again...was a good time, but the fact that I was placed last in the lineup...I dunno, I felt once again like the fat, unathletic girl who always gets picked last for a team...meh.

As for the running stuff...I can't quite figure out what is going on. I can run a decent half, but I just choke so badly in the short races. I have been doing speedwork-though I admit the last coupla months...hadn't been going well between the mega-heat waves that always seem to crop up on Tuesdays, or the fact that some of the workouts were a little too long for hot days and I can't seem to get the effort in. Weekly mileage is decent, long runs are decent, so I really think that's where the problem is lying. Only problem is, I don't know how to fix it...

Guess no one said it was gonna be easy...

skirtsports may have missed the boat with this one

Don't get me wrong, I love all my SkirtSports running skirts...as I'm sure you all know :)

However, I'm not too crazy about their attempt at a winter running skirt...

I dunno, I just think all pink on the bottom is not the most flattering thing (even though there is an all-black version)...and I'm not too crazy about the pants style either

The coordinating top is pretty nice though...don't think it's worth the price though!!

there will always be a rabbit...

This past Saturday, I did my usual paceleading duties in NYRR's Long training run. I figured I'd do my usual 9:30 group, but scale back the mileage a bit, as I really don't have anything super-long to train for, and there was more a need for pacers near the end, so I agreed to pace the last 9 miles, that way I get to sleep an hour or so later! Easy peasy.

Well I almost didn't think I'd make it in time...carbo-loading the night before with 4 pints of Sam Adams Cherry Wheat and 2 shots is not recommended. When I got there, the 8:30 groups were hitting the transverse-cool, I had time. Saw Uptown Girl pass by with her 9:00 pace group-yep, she used her pacemaster duties to the fullest extent and helped us out.

Finally the 9:30s came by, and I joined the 2nd group to help out someone who was struggling a little bit. The first 5 mile loop was a breeze-we were pretty much on pace (well, when we saw an accurate mile marker) and there were some very nice people in the group who I chatted with about marathons and other stuff. Trakmaniak and JD passed by with their 7:30 group. before I knew it, that loop was over!!

For the last 4-mile loop, I had to wait for the next group to come in so we can consolidate (since both the pacers and pacees were dwindling.) We set off on this loop...and this is the loop where I got annoyed. Not at myself, I was running just fine. The other pacer in this group decided to pick up the pace about halfway through-and I was majorly dropped by her and the group...by the end I was pretty much running solo (and even had someone comment "Where's your group?") To put this in perspective-I probably averaged 9:15s for that last loop, meaning the rest of the group probably was doing sub-9s. Look, I know some pace leaders and/or pacees like to pick it up in the last loop. But if that was the case, don't those who want to stay on pace have the right to know beforehand?

Well, I finished up, and joined a few other Flyers where we headed away from the park and on the way to a fun brunch...good food and company (not to mention funny stuff...like talking about Trakmaniak's bandana...but a little slip of the tongue and saying a different word than bandana...OK, guess you had to be there :-p ), complete with a shopping trip to Urban Athletics afterwards.

And sadly, I wasted the rest of the beautiful weather that day in favor of napping...guess the previous night caught up with me!! :)

don't know my own strength sometimes

This picture was taken at a marathon fundraiser party last week...the theme was "Hollywood." (I didn't really come in costume, but you can possibly say that I dressed similar to any of those overpublicized young female celebs..)

Anyway, this was me trying to break the pinata...took several tries (including me accidentally hitting someone else!!)...the stick used for breaking was too soft (cardboard is not very effective)...I knocked it down several times easily, but getting it to break was a struggle!!

oh MTA, you amaze me...

why, oh why, when it rains, and rains hard, the whole subway system goes down.

I am writing this while working from home...minute I heard the subways were out, I just turned around. I knew I wasn't gonna get a bus or a taxi. Why did I know this?

Why yes...same thing happened 3 years ago.

Glad to know my $76 a month is going to something.

BTW-those who can't get onto the MTA site to check service updates...try this link instead.

never thought central park would seem flat

after a few days of walking up hills like these...(yes, I did walk up these)
















running a loop in Central Park doesn't seem quite as tough...Harlem Hill (and others) don't seem quite as intimidating.

(yeah, I know I still owe a real vacation report...i'm working on it!!)

she runs san francisco

The title is quite fitting-took it from the slogan on a tank top that I got at the Running Divas booth at the expo...

Anyway, I will start this race report off by the numbers...

1:49:21, 8:20 pace

Splits:
mile 1-8:01
mile 2-8:37
mile 3-8:47
miles 4-5.9-24:19 (8:23 avg)
mile 5.9-6.9-8:07
mile 6.9-7.9-7:43
mile 7.9-8.9-8:22
miles 8.9-10.9-16:40 (8:20 avg)
mile 10.9-11.9-8:45
mile 11.9-12.9-8:13
mile 12.9-13.1-1:47 (8:31 avg)

And now the report:

The day started for me around 4:30 am...thank god I was still on New York time and I got to sleep early the night before!! And learning from some other bloggers' reports on the road, I made sure to bring bagels and PB with me, not knowing if I could find them so early in the morning. I then went outside to do a weather check...

...OK, I broke a cardinal rule of "nothing new on race day." I wore my new Flyers fitted top (however, I have 2 other tanks of the same style, so I knew it'd be no problem...however, it seemed a little too chilly to wear the running skirt I wanted (as the material was a little too thin) so I chose my brand-new black RollerGirl skirt. However, as it turned out, the ensemble could not have worked better.

Around 6:15, I met up with my Flyer teammate JM at a nearby Starbucks and got my caffeine fix before waiting for our other 3 teammates. After a few minutes, teammates MD, NH and UH showed up and we all started walking to where the buses were that would take us to the start line in Golden Gate Park. I have to say, the whole process went smoothly. There wasn't much of a wait for the buses, and once we got on, the seats were relatively comfortable, there was a restroom on the bus (obviously these guys took a cue from the Flyers when it came to traveling in style!)

We arrived to the start area in plenty of time, though the restroom lines were quite long. Was ok, we all just chatted, made other final race preps, tried to stay warm (the weather was cool, misty and cloudy...which I knew would make for absolutely perfect race weather!!) took camera-phone pics...finally, checked our stuff and headed for the start. Both halfs and the full marathon had wave starts-we all started in the 2nd wave, which would be 5 minutes after the first. The start had very little fanfare...didnt even hear a starting horn, all of a sudden, there were people moving forward and its like "oh crap, we're actually starting!!"

The first mile was a combination of adrenaline, a slightly downhill start, and "SexyBack" on the iPod. :) I was warned about the hills, and sure enough, the next coupla miles humbled me a bit.

Despite the hills, Golden Gate Park is a very pretty place to run...actually reminded me a little bit more of running Prospect Park in the Brooklyn Half (as opposed to my home base, Central Park.)

One very minor complaint about the half-starting with mile 3.9 for the half, we didn't have our own mile markers...we had to share with the full (they had regular mile markers, ours were on the .9 mile.) As you can see above, it sorta messed my split capturing up a bit, but it was a little tougher to calculate pace...which might have been a good thing, I could just concentrate on enjoying the race and obsessing less about pace.

Anyway, after about 6 miles of hills in the park, I was ready to get out onto the streets...as nice as the park was, the streets were the best way to see the city!! Mile 7 went through Haight-Ashbury, which was actually my favorite part of the race...was the most lively and festive part to me. And oh yeah, some more favorable terrain. The next mile had an uber-steep downhill...I was so waiting for my quads to rebel, but everything seemed to be working fine still!! Was really enjoying this course.

The next few miles were a little more industrial (not to mention the last killer hill in mile 9...man, I thought we had enough already!!) Even though I had taken in gel, sports drink, etc...I did feel myself fading quite a bit in the late miles...could have been as a result of poor pacing. I felt, in a way, like I did in NYC when trying for sub-4...except this case, I had a shot at sub-1:50, which I wasn't sure was possible with the terrain of the course. Once I spotted AT&T Park (where I was gonna go later in the day!), I knew there was only a little over a mile to go and tried as hard as I could to step it up. The final stretch, along the Embarcadero, with views of the water, was very nice and the cheering crowds at the end helped motivate me to a strong finish. Yeah!!

Afterwards, got my medal, finisher picture, food and drink (they were much more generous with the drink than the food) and went to claim my bag (this needs work for next year too-not a lot of rhyme or reason when the bags were lined up.)

Great race!! This confirms 2 things I suspected...

1-The half really is my best distance-it's the one that when I'm trying, I'm the most consistent with. (And was thrilled with this time, given the tough terrain...makes me wonder what I'm capable of with a little less hills)

2-I'm really burned out on racing in Central Park, and a change in scenery was very necessary to get the fire back.

I would definitely do this race again in the future. I would love to do the second half again...or maybe try out the tougher first half? That 5:30 start time is a little tough to swallow though...

home sweet home?

After 6 days of the glorious SF weather, the minute I stepped outside at JFK, the weather was just as sticky and humid as I had left it last Friday...

Then the $5 that was on my MetroCard for the AirTrain (I put $10 on last week so that would be one less thing for me to worry about on the return trip) had somehow disappeared in the last week...

Then we found out there was no E train service between Jamaica and Union Turnpike...oh if only I had known before boarding the AirTrain, woulda taken the A instead!! Had to drag all my stuff on a shuttle bus and transfer...well sorta good thing, I got an F train instead which was express in Queens and got a cab as soon as I hit Manhattan.

Top it all off, my body is still on West Coast time, I couldnt fall asleep til 4am, and my dad calls at 8:30 am.

Yep, I miss San Francisco already. More to come...

But til then, here's one of the pics from the half...